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Memo to Bud: Baseball doesn't sell in Florida

By Chaz Scoggins, chaz@lowellsun.com

Updated:
12/10/2012 06:34:31 AM EST

If wealthy teams want to try to rip each other off, like the Red Sox and Dodgers did last summer in their multi-player blockbuster deal in which the Red Sox shed more than a quarter of a billion dollars in contracts, commissioner Bud Selig barely blinks an eye.

But when a major-league team might be trying to rip off the public, well, then the commissioner gives the transaction a very hard look. As well he should.

Selig has had every reason to regard the Marlins with a jaundiced eye. Marlins ownership has been repeatedly ripping off the South Florida public -- as well as MLB's other owners -- for 15 years now, either financially or competitively.

So he temporarily blocked the megadeal last month in which the Marlins dispatched five players with a total of $160 million in contracts to Toronto in exchange for seven cheap players -- mostly minor-league prospects -- and a reported $8 million in cash from the Blue Jays. This after the Marlins had engineered another salary dump at midseason by trading away their franchise player, Hanley Ramirez, and one of their best pitchers, Anibal Sanchez, for prospects while exiling disappointing high-priced reliever Heath Bell for another prospect immediately after the season.

The Marlins traded shortstop Jose Reyes, pitchers Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson, along with infielder Emilio Bonifacio and catcher John Buck to the Blue Jays.

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Reyes and Buehrle had signed lucrative long-term free agent contracts with the Marlins just last winter, as had Bell.

After doing nothing when the Marlins dismantled World Championship clubs in 1997 and 2003, Selig decided to step in this time and review the deal. Ultimately he approved it. But it was clear from his official statement that he's keeping Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria on a very short leash from now on.

"I have carefully reviewed the proposed transaction between the Miami Marlins and the Toronto Blue Jays," Selig said in his statement. "I asked our Baseball Operations Department and our Labor Relations Department to compare this proposed transaction with similar deals. I also consulted with experienced baseball operations executives to get their input regarding the talent involved in this transaction."

Selig went on to state that the trade "represents the exercise of plausible baseball judgment on the part of both Clubs." But he added: "It is, of course, up to the Clubs involved to make the case to their respective fans that this transaction makes sense and enhances the competitive position of each, now or in the future."

Yeah, well, good luck with that. Major League Baseball has always been a hard sell in Florida, both in Tampa Bay and Miami, since expansion teams were placed there 20 years ago. The state is chock full of senior citizens living on fixed incomes, and South Florida is heavily populated by immigrants, and neither group can easily afford tickets to major-league games.

Both the Rays and Marlins also played in ugly ballparks and argued they needed new, modern facilities if they were to survive. After years of trying, the Marlins finally got their ballpark, a $634-million edifice with a retractable roof that was heavily financed by the taxpayers.

Loria put on a burlesque by signing expensive free agents Reyes, Buehrle, and Bell, and also made pitches to Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson. He also brought in colorful Ozzie Guillen as the manager. Fans bought 2.2 million tickets to see the new ballpark and the new fat cat Marlins.

It was a very short honeymoon.

Ramirez, the former Spinner, three-time All-Star shortstop, batting champ, 2006 NL Rookie of the Year and the MVP runner-up in 2010, was shunted aside to third base to make room for the flamboyant but overrated Reyes at short. Ramirez pretended he was OK with the move, but his play said otherwise.

Meanwhile Guillen ticked off Miami's huge Cuban population by making a statement praising Fidel Castro, and Bell couldn't get anybody out. The Marlins, expected to contend for the NL East title, were non-factors from the start, and in mid-season Loria began breaking up the club. The Marlins lost 93 games.

It's been hard to be a Marlins fan. Under owner John Henry -- yes, the same John Henry who now owns the Red Sox -- the Marlins went on a spending spree during the winter of 1996-97, won 92 games and the wild card, and then beat the Indians in the World Series.

But Henry claimed the club lost $35 million and quickly dismantled the team. Outfielder Moises Alou, starting pitcher Kevin Brown, and closer Rob Nen were sent packing, and the Marlins descended into the abyss again.

Henry had bought the Red Sox by the time the Marlins won 91 games in 2003 and won the World Series again as the NL wild card. But Loria, the new owner, broke up the team again, getting rid of high-priced stars like catcher Ivan Rodriguez, first baseman Derrek Lee, closer Braden Looper, and outfielder Juan Encarnacion. A year later he sent ace Josh Beckett and third baseman Mike Lowell to the Red Sox.

Loria was repeatedly reprimanded by Selig in subsequent years for pocketing revenue-sharing money instead of using it to improve the Marlins, who were always near the bottom of the pack in payroll. He finally spent some last winter, and the payroll rose to $101 million.

The Marlins, Loria cried, could not compete without a new ballpark. Now he has the ballpark and cries he still can't compete. The Marlins' payroll in 2013 will likely be about 30% of what it was in 2012.

The Marlins have already sent Escobar, one of the few proven major-leaguers in the deal with the Jays, elsewhere barely two weeks after the trade. Buerhle and Reyes both had harsh things to say about Loria on their way out the door. Young slugger Giancarlo Stanton is about the only drawing card the Marlins have left now.

"What is the motivation? There comes a breaking point," the 23-year-old Stanton said on MLB.com the other day. "I know how I feel. I can't imagine how the city and the fans feel."

But Selig insists he will be watching.

"I am sensitive to the concerns of the fans of Miami regarding this trade," Selig said in his statement. "Baseball is a social institution with important social responsibilities and I fully understand that the Miami community has done its part to put the Marlins into a position to succeed with beautiful new Marlins Park.

"Going forward, I will continue to monitor this situation with the expectation that the Marlins will take into account the sentiments of their fans, who deserve the best efforts and considered judgment of their Club."

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